The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during October 2012 the government reported 195 new government regulatory convictions.
According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 35.6% over the previous month.

The comparisons of the number of defendants convicted for government regulatory-related offenses are based on case-by-case information obtained by TRAC under the Freedom
of Information Act from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys. (See Table 1)

When monthly 2012 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in
the previous year, the number of convictions was down (-4.8 percent).
Convictions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago.
Overall, the data show that convictions of this type are down 5.6 percent from levels reported in 2007.

Figure 1: Monthly trends in government regulatory convictions

The leveling out from the levels five years ago in government regulatory convictions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1.
The vertical bars in Figure 1
represent the number of government regulatory convictions of this type recorded on a month-to-month
basis. Where a prosecution was initially filed in U.S. Magistrate Court and then transferred to the U.S. District Court,
the magistrate filing date was used since this provides an earlier indicator of actual trends.
The superimposed line on the bars plots the six-month moving average so
that natural fluctuations are smoothed out. The one and five-year rates of change in Table 1 and in the sections that follow are all based upon this six-month moving average. To view trends year-by-year rather than month-by-month, see TRAC's annual report series for a broader picture.

Within the broad category of government regulatory, cases were classified by prosecutors into more specific types.

Case types within government regulatory are

Counterfeiting and Forgery

Customs Violations - Duty

Customs Violations - Currency

Energy Pricing and Related Fraud

Health and Safety Violations - Employees

Health and Safety Violations - General Public

Copyright Violations

Trafficking in Contraband Cigarettes

Energy Violations - Nuclear Waste Issues

Money Laundering/Structuring (Narcotics)

Money Laundering/Structuring (Other)

Export Enforcement General

Other Government Regulatory Offenses

The largest number of convictions of these matters in October 2012 was for "Other-Regulatory Offenses", accounting for 62.6 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Counterfeiting and Forgery" (17.4%), "
Money Laundering-Other" (6.7%), "Money Laundering-Drug" (6.2%), "Customs-Currency Violations" (3.6%).
See Figure 2.

The lead investigative agency for government regulatory convictions in October 2012
was Interior accounting for 53 percent of convictions.
Other agencies with substantial numbers of government regulatory convictions were:
SecServ (17% ), DHS (10%), Agri (6%), IRS (6%).
See Figure 3.

Figure 2: Specific types of convictions

Figure 3: Convictions by investigative agency

Government Regulatory Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts

Top Ranked Lead Charges

In October 2012, 108 defendants
in government regulatory cases for these matters were
filed in U.S. Magistrate Courts. These courts handle less serious
misdemeanor cases, including what are called "petty offenses." In
addition, complaints are sometimes filed in the magistrate courts before
an indictment or information is entered. In these cases, the matter
starts in the magistrate courts and later moves to the district court
where subsequent proceedings take place.

In the magistrate courts in October the most frequently cited lead charge was
Title 36 U.S.C Section . involving the "Speeding". This was the lead charge
for 29.6 percent of all magistrate convictions in October.

Government Regulatory Convictions in U.S. District Courts

In October 2012, 87 defendants in new cases
for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during October there
were an additional 0 defendants whose cases moved from the magistrate
courts to the U.S. district courts after an indictment or information
was filed. The sections which follow cover both sets of cases and
therefore cover all matters filed in district court during October.

Top Ranked Lead Charges

Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of government regulatory matters
filed in U.S. District Court during October 2012.

The Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn), Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) and District of Wyoming—with 7 convictions—were the most active during October 2012.

Top Ranked District Judges

At any one time, there are about 680 federal District Court judges working in the United States. The judges recorded with the largest number of new government regulatory crime cases resulting in convictions of this type
during October 2012 are shown in Table 4.

All 14 of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of government regulatory convictions . (Because of ties, there were a total of 14 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)

Judge Ronald A. Guzman in the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago) ranked 1st with 4 convicted in government regulatory convictions.

Judges John Gleeson in the Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn), Anita Blumstein Brody in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) and John David Rainey in the Southern District of Texas (Houston)
ranked 2nd with 3 convicted in government regulatory convictions.